SCULLY: And besides, 2001 is actually the start of the new millennium.MULDER: Nobody likes a math geek, Scully.
X-FILES, "Millennium," 7x05, broadcast 11/28/1999
If you didn't know there was a year zero in astronomy, let me respectfully suggest you're not informed enough to tell others when to begin their centuries.Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay [note]
There are two kinds of people, those who think there are two kinds of people, and those who don't.
I am among those who think there are two kinds of people, and that they are people who think that the new century and millennium began on January 1, 2000, and those who think that they began on January 1, 2001.
A definitive discussion of this issue may be found in an essay of the late, great Stephen Jay Gould, "Dousing Diminutive Dennis's Debate (or DDDD=2000)," which is collected in Dinosaur in a Haystack [Harmony Books, 1995]. Gould, as in his defense of the name Brontosaurus ("Bully for Brontosaurus"), displays towering good sense. (For more on "two kinds of people," see "Psychological Types")
The advocates of "2001" usually say that since a century is 100 years, a millennium is 1000 years, and the calendar began with year 1, therefore all subsequent centuries will begin with a year 1 (e.g. 1901), and all millennia will begin with a year 1 (e.g. 2001). There is no year zero.
Fair enough. However, when calendars were invented that numbered the years, whether the regal years of Egyptian Kings or a continuous count like the Seleucid Era, the number systems used did not contain the number zero. There could be no year zero when there was no zero. Also, years were thought of as ordinals: 
the first year of a reign was thus year 1. People who still think in these terms I will call "Ordinalists."
The number zero, conceived in India, was introduced into Western mathematics by the mathematician al-Khuwârizmî (c.780-850). The Arabs still call this system "Indian" (Hindî) numbers, while Europeans, etc., call it "Arabic" numerals. The number zero answers the question of cardinal numbers, "How many?" rather than the question of ordinal numbers, "Which one?" Mathematical questions are usually about cardinals rather than ordinals.
When we say that it is the year 1997 of the "Annô Domini" or "Common" Era, does this mean that it is the 1997th year of the Era ("Which one?"), or that 1997 years have elapsed ("How many?") since a Benchmark? Well, it can mean both. If it is the 1997th year of the Era, then the Era began on January 1st, 1 AD. 
On the other hand, if 1997 years have elapsed since a Benchmark, then the Benchmark was January 1, 0 AD. January 1, 1 AD, would mean that 1 year has elapsed since the Benchmark. That makes the calendar begin with the year 0 AD, not with the year 1 AD. People who think in these terms I will call "Cardinalists" [note].
If the question is about when the calendar really "begins," then of course the truth is that the calendar did not begin either in 1 AD or 0 AD. The Julian Calendar began in 46 BC, the Gregorian Calendar began in 1582 AD, and the "AD" numbering of the years was proposed, although not extensively used until later, by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th Century AD. Even the calendar of the French Revolution was introduced in October 1793, a year and a month after the beginning of its own year "1" (September 1792), which was identified retrospectively -- and the calendar soon enough ceased to be used (Napoleon abolished it in year 12, or 1804, when he crowned himself Emperor). When a calendar or a reckoning "begins" thus usually says nothing about whether a calendar might be reckoned from a year 1 or a year 0.
The bald statement by "2001" partisans that "there is no year zero" is now, as a matter of usage, simply false. Calculations by astronomers and chronologists conveniently use zeros for years, months, and days. Perusing the Astronomical Almanac for the year 1997 [U.S. Government Printing Office & Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1996], one finds days like "January 0." This is not surprising. Astronomers and chronologists do their calculations with Arabic numerals, which contain the number zero. This introduces a Cardinalist bias.
The astronomical and calendrical use of 0, however, began in the very first days of modern science. When the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582, it involved a rule for determining when certain leap days of the Julian Calendar should be skipped. The rule was that 3 Julian leap years (i.e. the years of the AD era evenly divisible by 4) every 400 years should be common years in the Gregorian calendar, and those years would be years evenly divisible by 100 but not evenly divisible by 400. Years evenly divisible by 100 are conveniently called "century years." 2000, not 2001, is thus a "century year." Now, advocates of 2001, the Ordinalists, can say that "century years" end a century rather than begin a century. That will work, but then we have to ask how they are going to apply the Gregorian calendar to the year 1 BC. "1" is not evenly divisible by 100, but it is the end of the first century BC and is the year immediately before 1 AD. For mathematical convenience in the usage of the Gregorian calendar, 1 BC must be identified as 0 AD. Then the division works: 0 is evenly divisible by 100 and so is a century year (and evenly divisible by 400 and so a leap year, like 2000 itself). But then we do indeed have a year 0 AD, which the Ordinalists do not want to admit. And 0 AD is, oddly, the actual first year of the AD era, since by (questionable) tradition Jesus was born on December 25th, 8 days before January 1, 1 AD. It would sound peculiar indeed to say that Jesus was born in the year 1 "Before Christ." So 0 AD "begins" the AD Era [note].
Even though traditional usage for years was ordinal, while modern mathematical and scientific use tends to be cardinal, there is one common numbering usage that is cardinal: the numbering of personal age. When someone is born in the United States, they may be starting their 1st year, but they are not already "1 year old." That comes a year later. Age is thus seen as elapsed time, starting from 0. That a different usage is possible should be obvious. Indeed, the traditional Chinese reckoning of age is ordinal, so that "1 year old" means the 1st year of life. This can be very confusing in places where both Chinese and Western reckoning may be used along side each other, as in Hawaii.
The real choice between 2001 and 2000 is an aesthetic preference: 2001 is consistent with tradition and thus the conservative, traditionalist choice. 2000 is the natural result of the introduction of the number zero, which made the mathematical power of science possible, and thus the modernistic, progressive choice. There is no particular reason why one should be seen as really superior to the other, if we are to honor both tradition and innovation in human affairs. It would be appropriate to celebrate both to indicate that we both look ahead (2000) and look back (2001) in our worldview.
On the other hand, the worst thing about the Ordinalists is their customary dogmatism and arrogance: they just know that there was no year zero, which means that people who begin the century with a zero are vulgar, ignorant, and can't add the number 100 (I've had at least one completely indignant, rude, hostile, and blockheaded correspondent display this attitude -- I think he wished he could have me arrested). "Vulgar" is a significant component of their judgment, since their pronouncements are often delivered with a sneer and a lofty, superior air (if not the aforesaid hostility). The cognitive psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker says that some things are "gotcha! material for pedants and know-it-alls (the kind of people who insist that the millennium begins January 1, 2001)" [Words and Rules, Basic Books, 1999, p.54]. Indeed, Ordinalists use the issue to prove how superior they are compared to the gaucherie of everyone else. For this they should, at least about this turn of the century, be savagely ridiculed. They seem to be among the mathematical illiterates who have never heard of actually using the number zero. Or perhaps they are racists who don't want to use some newfangled thing that comes from India or the Arabs. Such charges would at least serve to drive them out of their arrogance, if not silence them completely (since we know that anyone accused of being a racist, who denies it, therefore is a racist).
Sadly, the great libertarian economist Walter Williams, who always displays towering good sense much more than Stephen Jay Gould on economic and political issues, nevertheless has revealed himself to be an Ordinalist (cf. "Feelings are more important than facts," Conservative Chronicle, November 3, 1999, p.31). Although he can cite the U.S. Naval Observatory in his defense, Williams nevertheless betrays his unfamiliarity with the chronological use of zero on a issue unrelated to the century and the millennium: He says that "the new millennium starts at 12:01 a.m. 2001." Saying that the day starts at "12:01" is natural for an Ordinalist, and perhaps also for someone just using a 12 hour clock. Anyone using a 24 hour clock, especially a digital clock, knows, however, that the day starts at 00:00, "zero hundred hours" -- at 00:01 a minute has already passed. This betrays for us the characteristic Ordinalist lack of attention, or familiarity, with the modern use of zero.
Unfortunately for the Ordinalists, everyone celebrates the New Year at the stroke of Midnight, not at 12:01, and, much worse, the meaning of 00:00 hours January 1, 2000 was hightened by anxieties and fears about the damage that could be done by the Y2K computer bug. It was thought that various essential public services could stop because older computers might lock up when their internal clocks showed the year as 00 and this was interpreted as 1900 rather than 2000. A made-for-television disaster movie anticipated riots and anarchy, and doomsday theorists were ready to take to the hills with enough supplies to surivive the End of Civilization. It was especially of concern that the Russians might lose control of their nuclear missles. Few expected the Russians to upgrade their computers in time to be free of any possible Y2K bugs. As it happened, little or nothing went wrong at Midnight of January 1, 2000, either where the day began, in the western Pacific, in Russia, or anywhere else. But there was not going to be anything like same kind of anxiety about 2001.
When 2000 was upon us, there was a sense of newness and strangeness every time I had to write "2000" or say the date. It had been 700 years (since 1299) since the year of the AD Era did not have a "teen" in it, and, of course, a thousand years since there were three zeroes. Now that we are past even 2001, this strangeness, of course, continues. The Ordinalists had their parties for January 1, 2001, but they faced the disappointment that few considered it as big a deal. Only about a quarter as many people turned out in Times Square as for 2000. In 2001 the British closed, not opened, the "Millennium Dome"; and Pope John Paul II sealed the Holy Year door of St. Peter's Basilica. Nevertheless, they stuck to it. On January 1, 2001, Peter Jennings calmly announced on the ABC evening news the "beginning of the century," as though there were no question about this; and even the less confident news personalities admitted that the "more mathematically precise" reckoned the century to have just begun. I don't think I ever saw the Cardinalist case actually presented, or even acknowledged, in the media. But this is typical of the "objective" news reporting of our day. By 2001 the presence of this page on the internet for four years didn't seem to have made much difference. No one even bothered to solicit the opinion of Stephen Jay Gould, who was a high profile public intellectual in his own right. Perhaps Peter Jennings had never read his books.
Traditional English Names of Full Moons, and the "Blue Moon"
Philosophy of Science, Calendars
In 1999 Dr. Dutch posted a generally excellent webpage about the millennium. Unfortunately, it is now disappeared, but I have retained the following critique.
Unfortunately, despite an insightful and helpful discussion, the page is marred at the end with the following diagram, which I reproduce:
Here we see the year 1 BC identified as "Year +0," 2 BC as "Year -0," 3 BC as "Year -1," and 4 BC as "Year -2." However, "+0" and "-0" are not different numbers (adding or substracting 0 does not change any number). What comes before the number 1 in the sequence of integers is 0, and what comes before 0 is -1. Thus, while 1 BC is indeed 0 AD, 2 BC is already -1 AD, 3 BC is -2 AD, and 4 BC is -3 AD.
I have brought this problem to Dr. Dutch's attention, and he insists that this is correct because the "0" refers to the integer portion of the decimal, while, with the numbers listed in the middle of the diagram (showing years and half-years), 2 BC does begin with -1.
Now, such a construction is reasonable enough, with a zero point at the boundary between 1 BC and 2 BC, but it is confusing and does not clearly represent the way years are actually numbered in historical usage, whether Ordinalist or Cardinalist. Or, for that matter, centuries, where the 1st century AD and the first century BC are not helpfully labeled "+0" and "-0" any more than the years.
It did not add to Dr. Dutch's explanation when he wrote to me that this was like "0oN" and "0oS" latitude -- when in fact 0o latitude is the Equator, and there is no difference between North and South there. Again, he was apparently using this construction to mean the integer portion within the first degees of latitude, North and South, despite the confusing way that will appear. A location at 30' (minutes) North latitude will be identified as 30'N, or 0o30'N, or 0.5oN, never as just "0oN." That is no actual, specific location of latitude -- except as equivalent to the Equator, where the "North" part is moot.
It is a bad idea to employ "+0" and "-0" as though they are different numbers, when they are not, especially where readers might get the idea that the year before 0 AD is "-0 AD" and that 4 BC corresponds to -2 AD rather than -3 AD. The way that Dutch uses these numbers, while it may be reasonably motivated and explicable, displays a prima facie numerical fallacy and is far too easily misunderstood or misapplied. When the problem of the century and the millennium is that the Ordinalists don't use zero at all, it doesn't help to introduce a usage where we see more zeroes than there actually are in the sequence of integers.
Come to think of it, I'm going too easy on Dr. Dutch. Since +0 and -0 are not different numbers, it is wrong to use them as though they are, whatever the explanation. And if the explanation for this involves decimals, this is also bad, since calendars use integers and fall under discrete or modular mathematics -- a whole branch of mathematics -- with deals with integers alone. If Dr. Dutch doesn't approve of this, I can just see him trying to lecture Gauss, who substantially developed that form of mathematics and who wrote modular formulae for calendars.
Ordinalism has its own permutations. When the Julian Calendar was instituted in 46 BC, with the rule that a day should be added every fourth year, a curious misunderstanding ensued. The priests (pontifices) in charge of the calendar inserted the leap day every three years, not every four years. They did this because they were counting "inclusively," i.e. the fourth year from the previous cycle counted as the first year of the next. This kept up from 46 BC to 9 BC, when the error was realized. The Emperor Augustus then brought things back in order by omitting sixteen leap years until 8 AD [cf. E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World, Cornell U. Press, 1968, 1980, 1982, p.47].
Ordinalists now tend to count ordinals "exclusively," as Augustus began doing in 8 AD, counting the first year of the cycle as the one after the fourth year. This practice, however, in effect leaves the fourth year of the cycle as the zero year of the next, which means that inclusive counting is really more conformable to ordinals, while the exclusive counting of ordinals is commensurable with cardinals.
The inclusive counting of ordinals can also be found in the Bible, where Jesus is said to have risen on the "third day" after his burial [Matthew 16:21, Mark 9:32, etc.], i.e. Easter Sunday. Once I saw an evangelist on television (I think it was Herbert W. Armstrong, 1892-1986) who protested that Jesus could not have been crucified and buried on a Friday and resurrected on a Sunday, because that was only two days later, not three. It is, of course, the third day if you count Friday as the first. Of such stuff are heresies and schisms made.
Inclusive counting is something also seen in music. The "octave" (octava, "eighth") is the next note in the scale of the same kind. Thus, beginning with C, we go through D, E, F, G, A, B, and finally C again. One notices, however, that there are only seven notes. To get eight going from C to C, one must count inclusively. This is the case with other intervals on the scale, the second, the fifth, etc.
Thus, ordinal counting includes varities of practice that may not trouble the cardinalists.
The Century and the Millennium; Cardinalists vs. Ordinalists; Note 1
199 BC 99 BC 4 BC 3 BC 2 BC 1 BC | 1 AD 2AD
+---------+----...-----+---------+---------+---------+---------+....
-200 -150 -100 -2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
| Year -2 | Year -1 | Year -0 | Year +0 | Year +1 |
|Century-1| Century -0 | Century +0
The Century and the Millennium; Cardinalists vs. Ordinalists; Note 2
The Century and the Millennium; Cardinalists vs. Ordinalists; Note 3
| the Four Stephanitic Games, the 75th Olympiad | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 481 BC | Zero Year, -480 AD | |
| 1 | 480 BC | July-August | Olympic Games |
| 2 | 479 BC | July-August | Nemean Games |
| 478 BC | April-May | Isthmian Games | |
| 3 | July-August | Pythian Games | |
| 4 | 477 BC | July-August | Nemean Games |
| 476 BC | April-May | Isthmian Games | |
| 1 | July-August | Olympic Games | |
How do we calculate what Olympiad it is? If we multiply 75 by 4 (=300) and substract from 776, we get 476, which is not 480 BC. What went wrong? We are confusing cardinals with ordinals. The 1st Olympiad, in 776 BC is not four years (1x4) after the First Olympiad. We can multiply 75 by 4 and subtract it if we use the "0th" Olympiad, which would be 780 BC: 780-(75x4)=480.
How do we determine which year is the first year of the Olympiad? 480 is convenientaly divisible by 4. But dividing by four leaves a remainder of zero, while we might be prefer to have a remainder of 1 for the first year. No problem. All we need to do is use dates in the AD era. 480 BC is -479 AD, as 1 BC is 0 AD. The previous year, -480 AD (481 BC), is now evenly divisible by 4, which means that the first year of the Olympiad is -480+1=-479 AD=480 BC, which is what we are looking for.
The "0th" year of the "0th" Olympiad is -780 AD. We can get the zero year of any Olympiad by adding 4 times the number of the Olympiad to this year. Or we can substract this from the zero year of any Olympiad, divide by 4, and get the number of the Olympiad.
Using years of the AD era means that we can conveniently calculate modern Olympiads. 2008 is evenly divisible by 4 (it is a leap year on the Julian and Gregorian calendars), which means that: 2008-(-780)/4=697. 2008 is the zero year of the 697th Olympiad. The Olympic Games would be in 2009, the first year of the Olympiad. 2011 is the 3rd year of the Olympiad.
Oh, Oh. The Modern (Summer) Olympic Games were in 2008, not 2009. The Modern Olympic Games use the zero year of the Olympiad! Where were the Ordinalists when we needed them? But perhaps the creators of the Modern Olympics simply didn't know that years evenly divisible by 4 in the AD era would also be the "0th" year of an Olympiad.
Since 1994, the Winter Olympics (which have been held since 1924) have been offset two years from the Summer Olympics. They are thus like the Pythian Games, at Delphi, which were held two years after the Olympic Games -- which now puts the Winter Olympics in the 2nd rather than the (Pythian) 3rd year of the Olympiad. The Nemean and Isthmian Games were held every two years and were less prestigious.
Greek historians like Polybius dated events using Olympiads, but the system was never used as a continuous era, like the Seleucid Era, in a Greek civil calendar.
The traditional English names of the Full Moons that occur during each year were coordinated to the seasons. The seasons are defined by the equinoxes and solstices. Each season can also be evenly divided into three zodiacal periods according to the longitude of the sun. A Full Moon usually occurs during each zodiacal period and is given a name specific to that period, starting with the "Moon after Yule" for the Full Moon that occurs while the Sun is in Capricorn. This may occur in the December of the previous calendar year, so it should be kept in mind that the "year" defined by the seasons is slightly offset from the calendar year.
While the division of the year is similar to the calendar of the French Revolution, where the year begins with the Autumnal Equinox, the French months were conventionally set to a length of 30 days each.
Traditional English Names of Full Moons,
and the "Blue Moon"
| Full Moon | Zodiacal Period | Starting Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yule, Winter Solstice | 89d | ||
| 1. Moon after Yule |  Capricorn | December 22 | 29d |
| 2. Wolf Moon |  Aquarius | January 20 | 30d |
| 13. Blue Moon | The third Full Moon of any Season with four | ||
| 3. Lenten Moon |  Pisces | February 19 | 30d |
| First Day of Spring, Vernal Equinox | 92d | ||
| 4. Egg Moon (Paschal Moon) |  Aries | March 21 | 30d |
| 5. Milk Moon |  Taurus | April 20 | 31d |
| 13. Blue Moon | The third Full Moon of any Season with four | ||
| 6. Flower Moon |  Gemini | May 21 | 31d |
| The Long Day, Summer Solstice | 94d | ||
| 7. Hay Moon |  Cancer | June 21 | 32d |
| 8. Grain Moon |  Leo | July 23 | 31d |
| 13. Blue Moon | The third Full Moon of any Season with four | ||
| 9. Fruit Moon |  Virgo | August 23 | 31d |
| Summer's End, Autumnal Equinox | 90d | ||
| 10. Harvest Moon |  Libra | September 23 | 30d |
| 11. Hunter's Moon |  Scorpio | October 23 | 30d |
| 13. Blue Moon | The third Full Moon of any Season with four | ||
| 12. Moon before Yule |  Sagittarius | November 22 | 30d |
This strict positioning of phases of the Moon in relation to the actual longitude of the Sun is also characteristic of the Chinese Calendar, though it positions New Moons, which mark the beginning of the Chinese year and months, rather than Full Moons. The first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox was also the basis of the Babylonian calendar; but the Jewish calendar, although similarly starting each month with the New Moon, was structured to position the month of Niisân so that its Full Moon would be the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. This set the date of Passover and was inherited by Christianity in the determination of Easter. If the "Egg Moon" is allowed to occur on the Vernal Equinox itself (rather than, for instance, only after), then it is equivalent to the Paschal Moon defined for Easter. Easter calculation, however, always defines the Vernal Equinox as March 21, so there may be some years, when the Equinox is on March 20, that the Paschal Moon differs from an astronomical calculation. Although the "Egg Moon" may be pre-Christian, it does suggest Easter eggs, and the prior Full Moon, the "Lenten Moon," definitely shows Christian influence. A popup window with this table, for reference, can be created with this link.
Every two or three years thirteen Full Moons will occur from one Winter Solstice to another, and two of these will necessarily occur in the same zodiacal period. Wherever four Full Moons occur in the same season, the third is called a "Blue Moon." Seven such moons will occur in a nineteen year period -- the "Metonic" cycle of the Babylonian, Jewish, and Chinese calendars.
The detailed workings of this system had become very obscure knowledge until recently. A "Blue Moon" is now commonly said to be a second Full Moon in a calendar month, though this means that in some years, as in 1999, there are two months, January and March, with Blue Moons, while February contains no Full Moon at all. This leaves only 11 non-Blue Moons in the year to which the 12 standard moon names would need to be assigned. If the moon names are all assigned by calendar month, then presumably the absence of a Full Moon in February would mean that there is no "Wolf Moon" -- though that loss of such an omnious name might be seen as auspicious. Assigning the "Egg Moon" always to April, on the other hand, severs its relationship to the Paschal Moon. In 1999 the Paschal Moon is on March 31 (with Easter on April 4), but the April Full Moon falls on April 30, a month later. In 1999 the Paschal Moon itself would be, by the calendrical month rule, a Blue Moon, and the Lenten Moon would coincide with, indeed, the astronomical Lenten Moon on March 2.
The recent meaning of "Blue Moon" occurred because the old moon names have mostly fallen out of use, and even been forgotten. Although I have found close to accurate definitions of the "Harvest Moon" and "Hunter's Moon" in 
a 1962 World Book Encyclopedia and in the 1997 Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (using almost the same language), and I had long heard that such traditional names existed for all the Full Moons of the year, I never saw a list of all of them until an article on "Blue Moons" in the March 1999 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine ("Once in a Blue Moon," by Philip Hiscock). That article contained an inset by Donald W. Olson and Roger W. Sinnott, "Blue-Moon Mystery Solved?", where they reproduced a page from the 1937 Maine Farmer's Almanac (see at right), that identified the Full Moon occuring on August 21, 1937 as a "Blue Moon" and provided a list of all the moon names. This was mysterious to them because the Full Moon on August 21, 1937 was not a second Full Moon in the month, and the Almanac really didn't explain why this particular Full Moon was a Blue Moon. The list of moon names, however, clearly established their astronomical character, and the only explanation for August 21 is the astronomical one. Both Sky & Telescope pieces reveal, however, how obscure the matter has become and how difficult it has been to find older references. The encyclopedia articles, also, don't seem to get it quite right. The World Book said that the nearest Full Moon to the equinox was the "Harvest Moon," while Encarta said that it was the one right before the equinox. The interpretation of the Almanac, however, requires that it be in the Autumn and after (or perhaps on) "Summer's End," i.e. the equinox.
A follow up Sky & Telescope article, "What's a Blue Moon?" by Donald W. Olson, Richard Tresch Fienberg, and Roger W. Sinnott, in the May 1999 issue, seems to have cleared up the problems. After the questions raised by the original article, an examination of more than a century of copies of the Maine Farmers' Almanac revealed the rule they were using for Blue Moons. Rather than using the actual position of the sun, the mean position of the sun was used, March 21 was always used for the Vernal Equinox, and the principle that the third Full Moon out of four in a season was discerned. Thus, the Lenten Moon would always occur in Lent and the Egg Moon would always be the Paschal Moon. Using the mean longitude of the sun would make the seasons of equal length. The error that the second Full Moon in a calendar month was a Blue Moon was traced to a specific issue of Sky & Telescope magazine in March 1946. What does not seem to have been revealed is the source used by the Maine Farmers' Almanac for its method and information.
Reading the original article, my impression was that the rule for Blue Moons was probably the second Full Moon in a zodiacal period. This was unsatisfactory, since it would mean that the Full Moon in Lent might be a Blue Moon rather than the Lenten Moon. It is therefore satisfying to discover that the actual rule preserves the Lenten Moon for Lent. However, the new article lists me as one of the people who proposed that the Blue Moon was the second Full Moon under a "given astrological sign." I think this is a bit of a misrepresentation, since the longitude of the sun defining the zodiacal period does not necessarily have anything to do with astrology. The use of the mean position of the sun also means that different methods, and different results, could be obtained for assigning the Full Moon names. I have discussed a purely astronomical determination. It will be interesting to see when this will diverge from the results of the mean longitude of the sun.
The clear, or clarified, picture from the 1937 Maine Farmer's Almanac has now become muddled. I noticed this when the Weather Channel referred to the Lunar Eclipse of October 2013 as the "Hunter's Moon" eclipse, when I would have expected it to be the Harvest Moon. I could not find that the Weather Channel website explained this, but soon enough I found the treatment of the Full Moon names at the 2014 Farmer's Almanac site.
| Full Moons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 Farmer's Almanac | 2014 Farmer's Almanac | 2014 Alternates | |
| Yule, Winter Solstice | |||
| 0. | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 1. | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon | Hunger Moon |
| 2. | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon | Crow/Crust/Sap Moon |
| First Day of Spring, Vernal Equinox | |||
| 3. | Egg/Paschal Moon | Pink Moon | Sprouting Grass/Fish Moon |
| 4. | Milk Moon | Flower Moon | Corn Planting Moon |
| 5. | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon | Rose Moon |
| The Long Day, Summer Solstice | |||
| 6. | Hay Moon | Buck Moon | Thunder Moon |
| 7. | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon | Green Corn/Red Moon |
| 8. | Fruit Moon | Corn/Harvest Moon | |
| Summer's End, Autumnal Equinox | |||
| 9. | Harvest Moon | Hunter's/Harvest Moon | Blood Moon |
| 10. | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon | Frosty Moon |
| 11. | Moon before Yule | Cold/Long Nights Moon | |
There is no mention on the 2014 Farmer's Almanac page about the Sky & Telescope discussion of the rule for Blue Moons. Indeed, the Full Moon names are identified by calendar month. The only reference to the astronomical benchmarks is the assertion that the Harvest Moon can occur in September or October because it is supposed to be the closest Full Moon to the Autumnal Equinox. If such a Moon occurs before the Equinox, of course, it is in the Summer rather than the Autumn, according to the Babylonian system used by Western astronomy. There is no reference cited for this rule, which would confuse the principle for Blue Moons as determined by Sky & Telescope, which names the Moons by the astronomical seasons. Indeed, the aspect of the rule that the Blue Moon is the third moon of the season, preserving the standard name of the third moon as the last moon of the season, only makes sense when we realize that the Lenten Moon should be immediately followed by the Full Moon associated with Easter. Again, this consideration would not arise if our frame of reference is pre-Christian American Indians. Much of the point of the Sky & Telescope discussion thus voided.
As of 2017, Sky & Telescope still explains the rule for Blue Moons as the third Full Moon in a season, something the Old Farmer's Almanac has never done; and the only Blue Moon since 2014, in 2015, was both the second Full Moon in a month (July) and the third in its season. So we have not seen a falsifying test of whatever rules the Almanac is using. Otherwise, I do not see that Sky & Telescope has addressed the question of the actual Moon names. Instead, Sky & Telescope actually links to the webpage of the Almanac about the names, which has not been included in the print editions since 2015. I do not see any reference sources cited, either in print or on line, for the Almanac treatment of the names. Instead, we must wonder about what sources would be referring back to Algonquin [2015 editon, p.275] calendar or astronomical knowledge or practices. We would need historical or at least anthropological sources, since the Algonquin did not have written records. While we might also wonder about the sources for the 1937 names, there is no doubt that we have them at least from 1937, which antedate all these recent discussions and claims.
A regularity we might notice in the revised names is that the 1937 names sometimes occur a month earlier in the 2014 version. This is the case with the Wolf Moon, the Flower Moon, the Harvest Moon, and the Hunter's Moon (as in the Weather Channel name for the October 2013 Full Moon). Of course, the 1937 names often do occur in the previous month, precisely because they are following the equinoxes and solstices rather than the (Gregorian) calendar months. Given the curious treatment of the Harvest Moon, perhaps a general confusion about this has crept into the Almanac account. In fact, I like some of the new names better. The "Moon before Yule" and the "Moon after Yule" tell us nothing about the nature of the season or the weather. "Cold Moon" and "Snow Moon" are much more evocative. However, the whole business is a mess when the whole basis of the treatment shifts from "English ancestors" to "Native Americans" without explanation, and even without coherence (e.g. over the Lenten Moon). In the tables below, the 1937 names are used because that is what I have been using since 1999.
| 1999 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 2 January 2h 49m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 31 January 16h 6m | Wolf Moon | Blue Moon |
| 2 March 6h 58m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 31 March 22h 49m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Blue Moon |
| 30 April 14h 55m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon |
| 30 May 6h 40m | Flower Moon | Milk Moon |
| 28 June 21h 37m | Hay Moon | Flower Moon |
| 28 July 11h 25m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon |
| 26 August 23h 48m | Fruit Moon | Grain Moon |
| 25 September 10h 51m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 24 October 21h 2m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 23 November 7h 4m | Moon before Yule | Hunter's Moon |
| 22 December 17h 31m | Moon after Yule | Moon before Yule |
| 2000 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 21 January 4h 40m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule |
| 19 February 16h 27m | Blue Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 20 March 4h 44m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 18 April 17h 41m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 18 May 7h 34m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 16 June 22h 27m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 16 July 13h 55m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 15 August 05h 13m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 13 September 19h 37m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 13 October 8h 53m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 11 November 21h 15m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 11 December 9h 3m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
| 2001 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 9 January 20h 24m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 8 February 07h 12m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 9 March 17h 23m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 8 April 03h 22m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 7 May 13h 52m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 6 June 01h 39m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 5 July 15h 4m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 4 August 05h 56m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 2 September 21h 43m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 2 October 13h 49m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 1 November 05h 41m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 30 November 20h 49m | Moon before Yule | Blue Moon |
| 30 December 10h 40m | Moon after Yule | Moon before Yule |
| 2002 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 28 January 22h 50m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule |
| 27 February 9h 17m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 28 March 18h 25m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 27 April 03h 00m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon |
| 26 May 11h 51m | Flower Moon | Milk Moon |
| 24 June 21h 42m | Hay Moon | Flower Moon |
| 24 July 09h 7m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon |
| 22 August 22h 29m | Blue Moon | Grain Moon |
| 21 September 13h 59m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 21 October 07h 20m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 20 November 01h 34m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 19 December 19h 10m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
This table, like the previous ones, is taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2002 [published as for 1999 above].
| 2003 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 18 January 10h 48m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 16 February 23h 51m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 18 March 10h 35m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 16 April 19h 36m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 16 May 03h 36m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 14 June 11h 16m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 13 July 19h 21m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 12 August 04h 48m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 10 September 16h 36m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 10 October 07h 27m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 09 November 01h 13m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 08 December 20h 37m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
This table, like the previous ones, is taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2003 [published as for 1999 above, 2001].
| 2004 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 7 January 15h 40m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 6 February 08h 47m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 6 March 23h 14m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 5 April 11h 03m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 4 May 20h 33m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 3 June 04h 20m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 2 July 11h 09m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 31 July 18h 05m | Grain Moon | Blue Moon |
| 30 August 02h 22m | Fruit Moon | Grain Moon |
| 28 September 13h 09m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 28 October 03h 07m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 26 November 20h 07m | Moon before Yule | Hunter's Moon |
| 26 December 15h 06m | Moon after Yule | Moon before Yule |
Lent begins on February 25th, and the Lenten Moon is on March 6th. Both Gregorian and Julian Easter in 2004 fall on April 11th, after the Egg or Paschal Moon on April 5th.
This table, with universal times for the Full Moons, is taken from The Astronomical Almanac for the year 2004 [Washington, U.S. Government Printing office; London, The Stationery Office, 2002].
| 2005 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 25 January 10h 32m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule |
| 24 February 04h 54m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 25 March 20h 58m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 24 April 10h 06m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon |
| 23 May 20h 18m | Flower Moon | Milk Moon |
| 22 June 04h 14m | Hay Moon | Flower Moon |
| 21 July 11h 00m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon |
| 19 August 17h 53m | Blue Moon | Grain Moon |
| 18 September 02h 01m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 17 October 12h 14m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 16 November 00h 57m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 15 December 16h 15m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2005 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2003].
| 2006 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 14 January 9h 48m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 13 February 04h 44m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 14 March 23h 35m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 13 April 16h 40m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 13 May 6h 51m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 11 June 18h 03m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 11 July 03h 02m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 9 August 10h 54m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 7 September 18h 42m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 7 October 03h 13m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 5 November 12h 58m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 5 December 00h 25m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2006 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2004].
| 2007 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 3 January 13h 57m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 2 February 05h 45m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 3 March 23h 17m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 2 April 17h 15m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 2 May 10h 09m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 1 June 01h 04m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 30 June 13h 49m | Hay Moon | Blue Moon |
| 30 July 00h 48m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon |
| 28 August 10h 35m | Fruit Moon | Grain Moon |
| 26 September 19h 45m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 26 October 04h 52m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 24 November 14h 30m | Moon before Yule | Hunter's Moon |
| 24 December 01h 16m | Moon after Yule | Moon before Yule |
As they should be, the Lenten Moon is in Lent, which begins February 21st, and the Egg Moon is the Paschal Moon, with (Gregorian) Easter falling on April 8th.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2007 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2005].
| 2008 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 22 January 13h 35m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule |
| 21 February 03h 30m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 21 March 18h 40m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 20 April 10h 25m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon |
| 20 May 02h 11m | Blue Moon | Milk Moon |
| 18 June 17h 30m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 18 July 07h 59m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 16 August 21h 16m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 15 September 09h 13m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 14 October 20h 02m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 13 November 06h 17m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 12 December 16h 37m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2008 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2006].
| 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 11 January 03h 27m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 09 February 14h 49m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 11 March 02h 38m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 09 April 14h 56m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 09 May 04h 01m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 07 June 18h 12m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 07 July 09h 21m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 06 August 00h 55m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 04 September 16h 03m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 04 October 06h 10m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 02 November 19h 14m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 02 December 07h 30m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
| 31 December 19h 13m | Moon after Yule | Blue Moon |
Despite the good work of Sky & Telescope in clearing up the issues of Blue Moons, I notice in December, 2009, that the Weather Channel is still uncritically touting the Full Moon of 31 December as being a "Blue Moon," according to the principle that it is the second Full Moon in the calendar month. Someone did not do their homework.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2009 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2007].
| 2010 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 30 January 06h 18m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule |
| 28 February 16h 38m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 30 March 02h 25m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 28 April 12h 18m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon |
| 27 May 23h 07m | Flower Moon | Milk Moon |
| 26 June 11h 30m | Hay Moon | Flower Moon |
| 26 July 01h 37m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon |
| 24 August 17h 05m | Fruit Moon | Grain Moon |
| 23 September 09h 17m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 23 October 01h 37m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 21 November 17h 27m | Blue Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 21 December 08h 13m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2010 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2008].
| 2011 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 19 January 21h 21m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 18 February 08h 36m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 19 March 18h 10m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 18 April 02h 44m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 17 May 11h 09m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 15 June 20h 14m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 15 July 06h 40m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 13 August 18h 57m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 12 September 09h 27m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 12 October 02h 06m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 10 November 20h 16m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 10 December 14h 36m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2011 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2010].
| 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 09 January 07h 30m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule |
| 07 February 21h 54m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 08 March 09h 39m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 06 April 19h 19m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon |
| 06 May 03h 35m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon |
| 04 June 11h 12m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 03 July 18h 52m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon |
| 02 August 03h 27m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon |
| 31 August 13h 58m | Fruit Moon | Blue Moon |
| 30 September 03h 19m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 29 October 19h 49m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 28 November 14h 46m | Moon before Yule | Hunter's Moon |
| 28 December 10h 21m | Moon after Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2012 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2011].
| 2013 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month |
| 27 January 04h 38m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule |
| 25 February 20h 26m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 27 March 09h 27m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon |
| 25 April 19h 57m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon |
| 25 May 04h 25m | Flower Moon | Milk Moon |
| 23 June 11h 32m | Hay Moon | Flower Moon |
| 22 July 18h 16m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon |
| 21 August 01h 45m | Blue Moon | Grain Moon |
| 19 September 11h 13m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon |
| 18 October 23h 38m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 17 November 15h 16m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 17 December 09h 28m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule |
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2013 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, London, 2012].
Note that the Weather Channel called the October 2013 Full Moon the "Hunter's Moon" rather than the Harvest Moon. This has happened because of shifting ideas about the proper names of the Full Moons, as I have discussed above.
| 2014 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Almanac |
| 16 January 04h 52m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 14 February 23h 53m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 16 March 17h 08m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 15 April 07h 42m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 14 May 19h 16m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 13 June 04h 11m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 12 July 11h 25m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 10 August 18h 09m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 09 September 01h 38m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 8 October 10h 51m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 06 November 22h 23m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 06 December 12h 27m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The basic names that are now in the Farmer's Almanac have been added here for comparison. In these names, the relation of the series to Easter has obviously been purged, apparently on the principle that these are "Native American" names, where of course Christianity was not originally a factor. At the same, time there are no astronomical or scientific records present, let alone common, to all Native Americans. So the Farmer's Almanac names are in part a fantasy exercise, perhaps even part of the current cultural and political attack on Christianity in the United States -- ironically coupled with a complacent or apologetic attitude towards the terrors and horrors of radical Islâm. The Full Moon of September 9th was reported as the Weather Channel as the "Harvest Moon." See discussion above for more details.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2014 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2013].
| 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 05 January 04h 53m | Moon after Yule | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 03 February 23h 09m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 05 March 18h 05m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 04 April 12h 06m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 04 May 03h 42m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 02 June 16h 19m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 02 July 02h 20m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 31 July 10h 43m | Grain Moon | Blue Moon | Blue Moon |
| 29 August 18h 35m | Fruit Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 28 September 02h 50m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 27 October 12h 05m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 25 November 22h 44m | Moon before Yule | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 25 December 11h 11m | Moon after Yule | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The Almanac names for 2015 have been supplied directly from the Old Farmer's Almanac [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2014, p.274]. This repeats the information discussed above. The Moon names, with variations, are given in terms of months, with the proviso that "The Harvest Moon is always the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox. If the Harvest Moon occurs in October, the September full Moon is usually called the Corn Moon" [ibid.]. We also get the account here that the Moon names are due to "Native Americans" of the northeastern United States and that a name applied "to the entire month in which it occurred," which would seem to mean that the Native Americans used the Julian or Gregorian Calendars -- if "the entire month" means the calendar month -- which seems unlikely. And if "month" means the period of the Moon from New Moon to New Moon, that needs to be stated. The specific names in the Almanac, however, are now said to be those "used by the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior" [p.275], with no source for this information cited, nor any account of how the Algonquin would have reckoned the months. This increases one's curiosity about the rule for the "closest" Moon the the autumnal equinox, since this would bespeak an astronomical and calendrical tradition, and an awareness of the equinoxes and solstices, about which we otherwise hear nothing. The ability of a people like the Algonquin to determine the equinoxes and solstices, let alone be aware of them, is something, given their technology and environment (i.e. forests), is something about which some skepticism may be in order.
Since there are thirteen Full Moons in the year, some provision will need to be made for an intercalation or a Blue Moon. The Old Farmer's Almanac, although noting two Full Moons in July, makes no mention of Blue Moons and does not identify the extra Moon by name. This grave oversight seems characteristic of the carelessness and fantasy of the whole treatment. Meanwhile, a rival 2015 Farmer's Almanac, published by the "Almanac Publishing Company" of Lewiston, Maine [2014 -- this one says it has been published since 1818 -- is it the "Maine Farmer's Almanac"? -- while the Old Farmer's Almanac claims an origin in 1792] repeats the names given by the other Almanac but does identity the second Full Moon of July as a "Blue Moon" [p.107]. Both Almanacs, having constructed their own fantasy system of Moon names, without bothering to consider how "Native Americans" reckoned the months, recognized the equinoxes and solstices, or constructed their own calendars, thus have tossed and ignored the history of these questions from the Sky & Telescope examinations, let alone the history and system evident in the 1937 Maine Farmer's Almanac. That the reckoning of Lent and Easter has been purged from the matter is only part of its carelessness and shamefulness.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT) are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2015 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 2014].
| 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 24 January 01h 46m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Wolf Moon |
| 22 February 18h 20m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 23 March 12h 01m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 22 April 05h 24m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 21 May 21h 14m | Blue Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 20 June 11h 02m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 19 July 22h 57m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 18 August 09h 27m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 16 September 19h 05m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 16 October 04h 23m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 14 November 13h 52m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 14 December 00h 06m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule, Cold Moon | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2016 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2015, pp.129-151]. This repeats the names, month by month, from 2015. However, this edition of the Almanac has completely dropped the section "The Origin of Full Moon Names" that was featured in the 2015 edition [p.275].
Hopefully, this deletion was out of embarrassment over the attribution of the names to "Native Americans," who, of course, did not use the months of the Gregorian Calendar and did not possess, in any references I have seen, a calendrical system, like the Babylonian or the Chinese, to adjust lunar months to the solar year, or any accurate tradition of observing the Equinoxes and Solstices. "Native Americans" who did have a sophisticated astronomical tradition, namely the Mayans, nevertheless did not use a lunar or a luni-solar calendar and so did not have canonical names for the Full Moons.
What the "Native American" names obviously continue to do is to purge the system of any relation to Lent or Easter. One might see in this an example of the politically correct War on Religion, particularly Christianity, that has been discussed elsewhere in these pages. For the 1937 names "by Month," I have added the alternatives "Cold" and "Snow" Moon for the Moons before and after Yule, which are not very descriptive or evocative.
| 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 12 January 11h 34m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 11 February 00h 33m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 12 March 14h 54m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 11 April 06h 08m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 10 May 21h 42m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 9 June 13h 10m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 9 July 04h 07m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 7 August 18h 11m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 6 September 07h 03m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Corn Moon |
| 5 October 18h 40m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 4 November 05h 23m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 3 December 15h 47m | Moon before Yule, Cold Moon | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2017 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2016, pp.143-169]. This repeats the names from 2016 but with some changes. We've lost the Hunter's Moon altogether. The Harvest Moon has moved up to October, leaving the previously unseen Corn Moon back in September. This is an application of the rule the Almanac has mentioned that the Harvest Moon should be the closest to the Equinox. As in 2016, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition. The assault, of course, on Christianity continues, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext of putative "Native American" calendars.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2017 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2016].
| 2018 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 2 January 2h 24m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 31 January 13h 27m | Wolf Moon, Snow Moon | Blue Moon | Old Moon |
| 2 March 02h 51m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 31 March 12h 37m | Egg Moon, Paschal Moon | Blue Moon | Sap Moon |
| 30 April 00h 58m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Pink Moon |
| 29 May 14h 20m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Flower Moon |
| 28 June 04h 53m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 27 July 20h 20m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Buck Moon |
| 26 August 11h 56m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 25 September 02h 52m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 24 October 16h 45m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 23 November 05h 39m | Moon Before Yule, Cold Moon | Moon before Yule | Beaver's Moon |
| 22 December 17h 49m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2018 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2017, pp.145-167]. This repeats the names from 2017 but with some changes. We've regained the Hunter's Moon in October; and the Harvest Moon is back in September. As in 2016 and 2017, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition. The assault, of course, on Christianity continues, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext of putative "Native American" calendars -- I have put these Almanac names in gray for their doubtless ahistorical nature. What we see here that was not in 2017 is the "Old" Moon and the "Sap" Moon. The "Old" Moon perhaps is their equivalent of the Blue Moon. The "Sap" Moon is for the Egg or Paschal Moon. But I also get the impression here that they are making things up, year by year, with some care not to give hints of Christianity (as even the neutral "Egg" Moon might -- in 2014 the "Sap" Moon was an alternative for the Lenten, not the Egg Moon).
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2018 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2017].
| 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 21 January 5h 16m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 19 February 15h 54m | Blue Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 21 March 1h 43m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 19 April 11h 12m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 18 May 21h 11m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 17 June 8h 31m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 16 July 21h 38m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 15 August 12h 29m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 14 September 4h 33m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 13 October 21h 08m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 12 November 13h 34m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 12 December 5h 12m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2019 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2018, pp.124-147]. As in 2016, 2017, and 2018, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition.
The war on Christianity continues, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext of putative "Native American" calendars -- I have put these Almanac names in gray for their suspiciously politically correct nature. What we see here that was not in 2018 is the "Pink" Moon instead of the "Sap" Moon. I get the impression here again that the Almanac staff are making things up, year by year, with some care not to give hints of Christianity (as even the neutral "Egg" Moon might). I am still waiting to see who is the Native American Ptolemy or Gregory XIII who is responsible for the names and calendar calculations for all this.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2019 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2018].
| 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 10 January 19h 21m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 9 February 07h 33m | Wolf Moon, Snow Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 9 March 17h 48m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 8 April 02h 35m | Egg Moon, Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 7 May 10h 45m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 5 June 19h 12m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 5 July 04h 44m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 3 August 15h 59m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 2 September 05h 22m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Corn Moon |
| 1 October 21h 05m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 31 October 14h 49m | Hunter's Moon | Blue Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 30 November 09h 30m | Moon Before Yule, Cold Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver's Moon |
| 30 December 03h 28m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2020 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2019, pp.125-147]. This repeats the names from 2014 but with one change to accommodate the 13 months, i.e. the Harvest and Hunter's Moons are separated. As in recent editions, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition. Thus, there is absolutely no explanation of how the Full Moon names are assigned, or from where they derive. The assault, of course, on Christianity continues, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext, as previously claimed, of putative "Native American" calendars. I get the impression here that the Almanac is making things up, year by year, with some care not to give hints of Christianity (as even the neutral "Egg" Moon might).
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2020 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2019]. I used to have, since the 1970's, a standing order, originally for The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, with the United States Superintendant of Documents. A few years ago, however, Office began to neglect to fill my order. They would send it out promptly on request, now by e-mail; but I finally decided just to order on line, if they couldn't manage to remember my standing order.
| 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 28 January 19h 16m | Wolf Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 27 February 08h 17m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 28 March 18h 48m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 27 April 03h 32m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 26 May 11h 14m | Flower Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 24 June 18h 40m | Hay Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 24 July 02h 37m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 22 August 12h 02m | Blue Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 20 September 23h 55m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 20 October 14h 57m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 19 November 08h 57m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 19 December 04h 35m | Moon before Yule | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The Old Farmer's Almanac for 2021 [Yankee Publishing, Dublin, NH, 2020] follows its rules for the names of the Full Moons. The publishers, however, do not seem to have noticed that they have included four Full Moons for the Summer season of 2021. This would call for a Blue Moon, but they have not provided one. By the simple reckoning of months, 2020 did contain a Blue Moon in October, as 2021 will contain by Zodiacal reckoning a Blue Moon in August. So the Almanac goes through 25 months without a Blue Moon. In fact, I only find them identifying one Blue Moon in all the years since I began paying attention to them in 2014. This reinforces my impression that the Almanac is following no true calendar or astronomy but is simply making this up as they go along.
They are still not giving the time of day to Easter. Gregorian Easter for 2021 is April 4th, following the Paschal or Egg Moon on March 28th. If the Almanac were deliberately intending to be insulting or dismissive about Easter, they could not do better than what they do, which is to call the Paschal Moon the "Worm" Moon. They also catch Passover with that, since the Jewish celebration begins with the Full Moon on March 28th. So, we might say, Christians and Jews are "worms." Perhaps they enjoy laughing about that in Dublin, New Hampshire. This what America, and the "Old Farmer's Almanac," has come to.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2021 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2020]. In some cases, that is still the previous calendar day in the time zones of the United States.
| 2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 17 January 23h 48m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 16 February 16h 56m | Wolf Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 18 March 07h 18m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 16 April 18h 55m | Egg/Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 16 May 04h 14m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 14 June 11h 52m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 13 July 18h 38m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 12 August 01h 36m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 10 September 09h 59m | Fruit Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 9 October 20h 55m | Harvest Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 8 November 11h 02m | Hunter's Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 8 December 04h 08m | Moon before Yule, Cold Moon | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2022 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2021, pp.125-147]. This repeats the names from 2021. As before, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition. The assault, of course, on Christianity continues, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext of putative "Native American" calendars. News sources, like the Weather Channel, continue to use these names uncritically.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), like the previous ones, are taken from The Astronomical Almanac, in this case for the year 2022 [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2021].
| 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 6 January 23h 08m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 5 February 18h 29m | Wolf Moon, Snow Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 7 March 12h 40m | Lenten Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 6 April 04h 35m | Egg Moon, Paschal Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 5 May 17h 34m | Milk Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 4 June 03h 42m | Flower Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 3 July 11h 39m | Hay Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 1 August 18h 32m | Grain Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 31 August 01h 36m | Fruit Moon | Blue Moon | Blue Moon |
| 29 September 09h 58m | Harvest Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 28 October 20h 24m | Hunter's Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 27 November 09h 16m | Moon Before Yule, Cold Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver's Moon |
| 27 December 00h 33m | Moon after Yule, Snow Moon | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2023 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2022, pp.125-147]. This repeats the names from 2014 but with one change to accommodate the 13 months, i.e. the sturgeon and Harvest Moons are separated, by a Blue Moon.
As in recent editions, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition. Thus, there is absolutely no explanation of how the Full Moon names are assigned, or from where they derive.
The assault, of course, on Christianity continues, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext, as previously claimed, of putative "Native American" calendars. Again, I get the impression here that the Almanac is making things up, year by year, with some care not to give hints of Christianity (as even the neutral "Egg" Moon might). Yet the title page identifies 2023 as "the year of Our Lord," which seems inconsistent with the deletion of Christianity from the Moon names.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), are taken from The Nautical Almanac for the Year 2023 [U.S. Government Publishing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2022]. Previously, of course, the times were from The Astronomical Almanac. However, The Almanac for the Year 2023 is not yet in print. I inquired of the Government Publishing Office and was informed, the "Astronomical Almanac 2023 should be in stock on February 17, 2023." I hope so. The 2022 Almanac was late last year, but not this late. If anyone wanted Almanac information for January, they are already out of luck.
| 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Moon | Zodiacal | by Month | Farmer's Almanac |
| 25 January 17h 54m | Wolf Moon, Snow Moon | Moon after Yule | Wolf Moon |
| 24 February 12h 30m | Lenten Moon | Wolf Moon | Snow Moon |
| 25 March 7h 00m | Egg Moon, Paschal Moon | Lenten Moon | Worm Moon |
| 23 April 23h 49m | Milk Moon | Egg Moon | Pink Moon |
| 23 May 13h 53m | Flower Moon, Rose Moon | Milk Moon | Flower Moon |
| 22 June 01h 08m | Hay Moon, Thunder Moon | Flower Moon | Strawberry Moon |
| 21 July 10h 17m | Grain Moon | Hay Moon | Buck Moon |
| 19 August 18h 26m | Blue Moon | Grain Moon | Sturgeon Moon |
| 18 September 02h 34m | Fruit Moon, Corn Moon | Fruit Moon | Harvest Moon |
| 17 October 11h 26m | Harvest Moon, Blood Moon | Harvest Moon | Hunter's Moon |
| 15 November 21h 29m | Hunter's Moon, Frosty Moon | Hunter's Moon | Beaver Moon |
| 15 December 09h 02m | Moon before Yule, Cold Moon | Moon before Yule | Cold Moon |
The final column again is from the Old Farmer's Almanac, now for 2024 [Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire, 2023, pp.125-147]. This repeats the names from where I began listing them in 2014.
As in recent editions, we do not see a section "The Origin of Full Moon Names," as was featured in the 2015 edition. Thus, there is absolutely no explanation of how the Full Moon names are assigned, or from where they derive. Since this all seems to have been a fantasy exercise anyway, perhaps on the authority of a "Pretendian" source, that is just as well.
The Almanac's assault on Christianity continues, of course, with no indication of the Lenten or Paschal Moons, based on the pretext, as previously claimed, of putative "Native American" calendars (with no reference cited). Again, I get the impression here that the Almanac is making things up, year by year, with some care not to give hints of Christianity (as even the neutral "Egg" Moon might). Yet the title page identifies 2024 as "the year of Our Lord," which seems inconsistent with the deletion of Christianity from the Moon names.
The Full Moons on this table, in Universal Time (GMT), are taken from The Nautical Almanac for the Year 2024 [U.S. Government Publishing Office, Washington, and now The U.K. Hydrographic Office, Taunton Somerset, 2023]. Previously, of course, the times were from The Astronomical Almanac. However, The Astronomical Almanac for the Year 2024 is not yet in print. The 2023 Almanac was late last year, only becoming available in March. If anyone wanted Almanac information for January or February, they are already out of luck. Amazon.com now lists an "Astronomical Almanac, 2024 Edition," in paperback, for $440. This is ridiculous. The 2023 edition was not cheap, but it was in hardback and not astronomically expensive.
The Occurrence of the Solar Terms in 1995-2013
The Solar Terms and the Chinese Calendar
Philosophy of Science, Calendars
Philosophy of Religion, Calendars
Philosophy of History, Calendars
The French Revolutionary Era, which was reckoned to begin on 22 September 1792 (roughly the Autumnal Equinox), was based on a year of 12 months of 30 days each, with five or six intercalary days at the end of the year. This was identical in form and position to the Coptic version of the ancient Egyptian Calendar, though with the year starting about ten days later. The months were poetically named for the seasons (in the northern hemisphere), which immediately inspired an English parody. I have added some Chinese characters, with Chinese proununciation (below) and
The French Revolutionary Calendar
| Name | translation | Parody | Roman Month | Coptic Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Vendémiaire | vintage | Wheezey | September | Thout |
| 2. Brumaire | mist  | Sneezy | October | Paape |
| 3. Frimaire | frost  | Freezy | November | Hator |
| 4. Nivôse | snow  | Slippy | December | Kiahk |
| 5. Pluviôse | rain  | Drippy | January | Tobe |
| 6. Ventôse | wind  | Nippy | February | Mshir |
| 7. Germinal | seed | Showery | March | Parmhat |
| 8. Floréal | blossom | Flowery | April | Parmute |
| 9. Prairial | meadow | Bowery | May | Pashons |
| 10, Messidor | harvest | Hoppy | June | Paone |
| 11. Thermidor | heat  | Croppy | July | Epep |
| 12. Fructidor | fruits | Poppy | August | Mesore |
The French calendar, like the original Egyptian calendar again, included a ten day week. This was all supposed to be more natural and rational than the Roman/Gregorian calendar. Once Napoleon became reconciled with the Pope and the Catholic Church, however, it was doomed. Today revolutionary calendar dates are only heard because various events of the French Revolution came to be known by their Revolutionary dates, e.g. the arrest of Robespierre on 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794). Thus, those who ended the Reign of Terror became known as "Thermidoreans."
More recent attempts to rationalize the Western calendar have turned on the problem that the seven day week does not divide evenly into the 365 (or 366) day year. A day or two is left over. The simplest idea is simply to leave the extra day (days) out of the week. This sort of thing was never likely to be accepted because the seven day week is observed for religious reasons by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Laid down by God, the succession of days is not going to be modified for calendrical convenience. On the other hand, calendar reforms in the early Soviet Union were directed at abolishing the traditional week altogether, precisely because of its religious basis. At one point, a six day week was used, with Sunday pointedly excluded. Eventually all this was abandoned (too many people had been keeping traditional observance anyway and missing work -- presumably too many people to just execute) and the traditional calendar and week restored.
Return to "The Century and the Millennium"
Return to "Traditional English Names of Full Moons"